As Day 2 of the NFL legal tampering period continues, the Buffalo Bills are quite happy with the moves they've made so far under general manager and president of football operations Brandon Beane. While there are some other moves they need to make, they want to be smart and not overpay for any available superstars.
While edge rushers are important, teams need to be cautious when selecting the right type of player to fit their needs. One player who is a free agent, but may not be the right piece for their puzzle, is Cincinnati Bengals edge Trey Hendrickson.
The Bills have reportedly shown interest, but there's plenty of reason why they should think twice before pulling the trigger on Cincinnati's disgruntled star pass rusher.
Bengals EDGE Trey Hendrickson does not fit the Bills' present or future plans
Hendrickson will turn 32 later this year, which means he may only be good for at most five or six years. He's not the same player, nor does he have quite the stamina he once had when the New Orleans Saints drafted him in 2017.
Injuries
As he has aged, the Cincinnati Bengal edge rusher has had nagging injuries that have affected his body and his ability to stay healthy and out on the field. In week 6 of the 2025 season, he appeared to have suffered slight back pain, but as the human body works, those injuries do not go away. As in Hendrickson's case, the pain grew worse, and it ended up causing a hip injury in which Hendrickson needed season-ending surgery.
As a result, he was placed on injured reserve on Dec 11, six days after turning 31 years old. These types of injuries can be nagging on the human body and hard to recover from fully.
Missed out on payday last year
Hendrickson's dramatic 2025 season started in the first week of training camp. Wanting a long-term extension after back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons, the dynamic edge did what NFL players do best: he held out of training camp until he received his payday.
Because he missed the mandatory minicamp and week one of training camp, he was fined by the league between $250,000 and $350,000. Hendrickson felt his old deal wasn't rewarding enough for his two past stellar seasons. He desired a long-term deal with guaranteed money and wasn't going to play until he had earned it.
The holdout backfired on Hendrickson, as he and the Bengals ended up restructuring his deal with a $14 million raise, increasing his 2025 salary to $30 million. Another caveat: the deal was only for a year; fast-forward to today, and he's still a free agent, looking for that big payday.
His 2025 season didn't do him any favors either, as he only played in seven games while dealing with chronic back pain all year long, causing him to have season-ending hip surgery, placing him on IR.
Plummeting price tag
Now, the big payday he's looking for after just seven games last year, with no franchise tag, is a whopping 3-year, $99 million contract. There's no way the Bills are going to pay for that, especially with a guy who's coming off of serious hip surgery due to chronic back pain.
Who even knows if his back is ever going to heal right, especially with him turning 32? So it makes sense the Bills are staying clear of Hendrickson.
So the Bills should say, "No way", and pivot to someone more suitable for their scheme and more durable to play 17 games per season. That is certainly not Trey Hendrickson.